


Fallout: New Life

by NihilusShadow



Series: Fallout 4: New Life [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 20:28:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14064936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NihilusShadow/pseuds/NihilusShadow
Summary: As an Institute Courser X7-19 is one of the deadliest beings in the Commonwealth. Tasked with hunting fellow Synthetic lifeforms gone rogue, X7-19 was on assignment when he discovered the Institute and his home was destroyed by an unknown enemy. Severely damaged from intense radiation poisoning X7-19 is now forced to put his life in the hands of his enemies. With the Institute gone, he must look inside himself and decide what he intends to do with his new life...





	Fallout: New Life

There was a loud crack of thunder and a flash of light. Then another and another, but X7-19 could find no cloud in the night sky above the Commonwealth. There was only one other phenomenon which could explain the sight X7 was experiencing; the Institute's teleportation grid. The Institute, located deep beneath the ruins of the old Commonwealth Institute of Technology center, had no physical exit and relied on a technological marvel to move people to and from the surface. A translocation grid designed to instantaneously teleport a person molecule by molecule from one location to another.   
  
As an Institute Courser working for the Synth Retention Bureau, it was X7's duty to explore the surface of the Commonwealth and hunt down escaped Synths, which are replicant humans created by the scientists of the Institute. Generation III Synths were indistinguishable from real people and Sometimes these synthetic humans malfunctioned, believing they really  were sentient people. Sometimes they attempted and succeeded to escape the Institute. X7 himself was a Generation III Synth, but he understood his place and found no sympathy for those fellow Synths who malfunctioned.  
  
X7 moved as swiftly as he could towards the location of the last flash of light. When he arrived he found two Institute scientists cowering on the ground. He recognized them both as Doctors Terrance Marshall and Elizabeth Andrews. He quickly approached them and they were startled by his unexpected presence.  
  
"No, please don't kill us!" Doctor Andrews screamed. X7 put his arms out so they could see he was unarmed.  
  
"Calm yourself please, doctor. I am X7-19 from the S.R.B. I was tracking a lost Synth when I heard your arrival. What are you doing out here?" Doctor Andrews covered her face and wept as Doctor Marshall stood to face X7.  
  
"It was awful, X7." Doctor Marshall began. "There was screaming and gunfire echoing everywhere! We ran as fast as we could until we were able to translocate here." X7 stepped closer to the Doctor and looked him in the eyes.  
  
"Someone attacked the Institute?" He asked. In the 200 years the Institute has remained hidden beneath the Commonwealth, no one has been able to infiltrate the facility. "Who were the attackers?"  
  
"I don't honestly know. Everything happened so fast. People were running and screaming, bodies fell everywhere. I never looked back long enough to see who was shooting us." Doctor Andrews stood and wiped tears from her face.   
  
"Father," she said with a sniffle, "He gave the order to evacuate the Institute not long after the fighting started," she paused choking back more tears. "Security fought back and covered our escape, but they stood no chance against whoever attacked."  
  
X7 looked up and in the direction of the Institute. In the distance he could see more flashes of light as people continued to evacuate. There were dozens of flashes now. He turned back to Doctor Marshall.  
  
"Doctor, I need to get back into the Institute." he said, but Doctor Marshall just shook his head.  
  
"You can't, not now. The entire system is dedicated to sending people out." X7 reached for his Institute issued laser pistol on his belt and turned in the direction of the Institute.  
  
"I have to try. Take Doctor Andrews and regroup with the other evacuees. If I can't teleport inside, then perhaps I can at least find out who is attacking." X7 started to head out, but Doctor Marshall grabbed his arm.  
  
"Wait, X7. You could be killed! Perhaps you should stay here with us. We could use your help." X7 shook his head.  
  
"No, I must go." Marshall sighed and released his arm.  
  
"Go." he said reluctantly. X7 turned and ran in the direction of the Institute. Marshall took Doctor Andrews' arm and the two started off in the opposite direction. Marshall paused for a moment and looked back in X7's direction. "Good luck."  
  
\---  
  
X7 sprinted as fast as his artificial legs could move him. As he made his way to the Institute, he continued to see people flashing into existence all around him. It seemed like hundreds now as more and more scientists, engineers and even children fled from an unknown invasion force. As a Synth X7's endurance could far exceed that of a normal human and he made remarkable progress.  
  
His progress was cut short however when the unthinkable happened. There was a bright flash of light, brighter than anything he had ever seen in his life. He shielded his eyes until the light dimmed enough for him to peak over his arm. Before him rose a large plume of fire in the shape of a mushroom. X7 stared up at the massive explosion which towered over the largest buildings still standing in the wasteland. In that moment he knew what had happened; the nuclear reactor beneath the Institute had exploded. Either the attackers had purposely detonated the reactor to destroy the Institute or Father self destructed the facility on purpose. Perhaps to deny the attackers of the advanced technology located within?  
  
Despite his ability to process moments faster than a normal human, his speculation was cut short when the shock wave from the explosion made it's way to his location. The buildings around him shook and any windows still in place shattered. X7 heard a defining crack as he was knocked off his feet and sent tumbling backwards. For what seemed like an eternity, X7 felt nothingness. All feeling in his body was gone; he could feel absolutely nothing. His vision became cloudy and eventually turned to complete darkness. For a moment he believe her was dead, but he could still here a loud ringing in his ears.  
  
He could not tell how long he had been down, but when his vision began to clear he saw sunlight beginning to replace the darkness of the night. He attempted to move only to feel intense pain coursing through his entire body. Normally his mental discipline helped him negate pain, but it was too much for him in this instant. He grunted as he forced himself to move anyway. Fighting past the pain he pushed some debris off of himself and examined his surroundings. One of the building near him had collapsed and he was surrounded by what remained.  
  
X7 started to stand and winced when he moved his left arm. He looked down and saw that it was clearly broken. Not even the durable material used to make up his artificial skeletal structure could completely withstand such a blast. Luckily that appeared to be the worst of his injuries that he could see. There were bruises all over his body and he felt like death, but he pushed the pain aside the best he could and stumbled forward.  
  
Climbing out of the debris, X7 made his way towards what remained of the Institute. He couldn't get too close however, as dark green clouds and intense radiation filled the crater where the Institute has once existed. He had seen such a terrifying hell before, in the Glowing Sea where the original nuclear bomb destroyed most of Boston 200 years ago. He had never actually been to ground zero of that particular detonation, but he imagined it looked similar to what he was seeing now.  
  
Taking one last look around the area, X7 turned away from the crater and started towards the area he encountered Doctors Marshall and Andrews. He didn't get far when he felt something terribly wrong. His vision began to blur and he felt dizzy. This was an experience he had never felt before and soon he fell over. Falling to his knees he braced himself with his good arm and soon coughed up artificial blood. This was strange to him and he didn't know what to do. He could only surmise that he was being affected by the intense radiation, but Synth were known to be resistant to radiation. Then again he had never known a Synth to stand ground zero at a nuclear detonation site.  
  
X7 pulled himself up and continued forward, but he quickly became dizzy all over again. He needed help, but with the Institute destroyed there was little anyone could do for him. There was a chance someone from the Institute could help him, once he rendezvoused with them, but there was no guarantee they had the tools necessary. It was clear from his conversation with the Doctors that the Institute had been evacuated rather abruptly. It was probable that no one managed to grab anything of importance which could help him and the people of the Commonwealth were definitely ill equipped. Unless...  
  
No, he thought. There are some people in the Commonwealth who could help him. A group of humans calling themselves The Railroad had taken it upon themselves to assist escaping Synths. For all he knew they could very well have been the ones responsible for destroying the Institute. They believe the Synths are slaves and would gladly rid the world of the Institute if it meant liberating hundreds or thousands of Syths. He couldn't possibly go to them for help. As a Courser assigned to retrieving escaping Synths, he was the Railroads most hated enemy. He personally killed several Railroad agents in his quest to retrieve his targets. If they were as good at keeping records as they were at hiding from the Institute, there was a chance they knew his face.  
  
More blood spewed from X7 as he bent over and vomited. He had to brace himself again to keep himself from falling completely over. There really wasn't much choice for him at this point. He would either collapse and die here from his injuries, or he could be shot and killed by Railroad agents as soon as he approached one. Assuming he lived long enough to hunt one down anyway. He leaned against what was left of a collapsed wall and thought for a moment. Perhaps there was a way he could contact the Railroad safely. S.R.B. reports suggested a doctor in the town of Goodneighbor was secretly assisting the Railroad.  
  
Getting inside Goodneighbor would be difficult, since he knew the citizens there wouldn't take too kindly to a Courser strolling through their gates. Mayor Hancock himself would probably be there to personally gut him for being an agent of the Institute. X7 was good at infiltrating places he wasn't wanted however. It would be difficult considering his injury, but he was confident he could sneak past those barbarian guards patrolling the makeshift town..  
  
\---  
  
It took him a few hours to finally reach Goodneighbor safely. Raiders and Supermutants have made homes around the entrance to Goodneighbor, but they were unable to spot him stealthily moving from building to building. X7 felt some pride in knowing he was that good, even when severely injured. Although Supermutants weren't known for being particularly bright to begin with. The sun was beginning to set when he climbed over the makeshift wall protecting the town. He fell into a back alleyway and landed in a pile of garbage. He thought it was rather loud and held still, listening for potential footfalls of someone coming to investigate the noise. After a few moments no one ever came and X7 chose to lay still for a little while longer.  
  
The sun finally set and X7 was confident he could climb out of his impromptu hiding place and make his way to The Memory Den. The Den was like a drug house, with addicts coming and going every day to get high. Except the Memory Den didn't sell traditional drugs and chems. Instead, they could plug you into a virtual reality and let you relive past memories and experience whatever moment in your life you desired to experience again. In some ways it was almost worse than a chem addiction.  
  
A few vagrants and drifters stood around the entrance to the Memory Den and X7 waited for them to move on before he made his way to the door. It was locked when he reached it, but the lock was rather frail and he was able to break it and force his way inside. He quietly walked inside and his vision began to blur again. For a moment he thought he would vomit, which he feared since it wasn't the quietest thing he could do right now. He paused and took a quick moment to compose himself. When he was confident he wasn't going unload more blood all over the floor of the Memory Den, he quietly made his way into the main room. The lights were off and the room was empty. A light emanated from the back of the room and he discovered a hallway still illuminated.   
  
He made his way down the hallway and discovered a lab, or at least a dirty hole in the wall that served as the closest thing to a lab in this disease infested crap hole. There was a woman standing in the room alone and he quietly stepped in behind her. He stumbled for a moment and made a sound which caught the woman's attention. She looked up and froze, before slowly turning around to face him. X7 thought back to the intel the Institute had on this place. The woman was definitely Doctor Amari, whom the Institute suspected was an agent of the Railroad. She stood perfectly still before speaking.  
  
"What..." she paused and cleared her throat. "What do you want?" X7 stumbled forward and collapsed onto his knees. He struggled to look up at her.  
  
"Please, I need your help." That was all he could manage before his body gave out and he finally fell unconscious.  
  
\---  
  
X7's vision was blurry, but he could see he was laying inside one of the Den's memory loungers. These were used by people to plug into their memories so they could relive them. He was unsure why he was in one, but it didn't look like there was any place for a patient to rest. He tried to move only to find his arms and legs bound. This was it; his life was no longer in his hands. His vision was still blurry and he could barely make out four people standing near the entrance to the room. They were whispering, but he was still more than capable of hearing what they had to say.  
  
"You can't be serious!" a woman exclaimed softly. A man wearing sunglasses stepped forward and looked in X7's direction.  
  
"You're damn right I'm serious." he said. The woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette. She lit it and took a long hit from it before blowing smoke out of her mouth and speaking again.  
  
"That thing is a Courser Deacon. Do you know how many of our people that sonofabitch has probably killed?" X7 thought for a moment. Fourteen. He has killed at least fourteen known associates of the Railroad. The man, Deacon, shook his head and looked her in the eyes.  
  
"I don't care. He's a Synth and he asked Doctor Amari for help, so I say we help him." The woman rolled her eyes and took another hit from her cigarette.  
  
"He's not a normal Synth..."  
  
"Yes I know, Courser, got it. He's still a Synth and he's in pretty bad shape." Deacon interrupted.  
  
"So what do you suggest we do?" The woman asked. Deacon looked over to Doctor Amari.  
  
"Maybe we can do a memory wipe, like we would any other Synth?" He asked. Doctor Amari shook her head.  
  
"I'm afraid that's not possible. The Courser has suffered too much damage. We could wipe his memory, but we couldn't install any new memories. We'd might as well be killing him." The other woman looked over at X7.  
  
"Sounds good to me." Deacon removed his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on.  
  
"Come on Dez. I know he's a Courser, I really do, but we can't just let him die. How can we say we'll help any Synth, if we're not willing to help every Synth?" This "Dez" woman whom X7 surmised must be Desdemona, leader of this chapter of the Railroad and priority target, took another hit of her cigarette before dropping it and crushing it with her foot. She pulled out another cigarette and started the process all over again.  
  
"Damnit Deacon, alright. We'll help it, but we're doing it my way." X7 wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. His vision began to blur again and he struggled to stay awake. He wanted to hear what she had in store for him, but he couldn't help but fall back into unconsciousness.  
  
\---  
  
When X7 finally awoke, he had no idea how much time he had been offline. That was the least of his concerns however. He attempted to move, but he didn't feel right. The sickness was gone and the pain had ceased, but he didn't feel normal either. He looked around and blinked, trying to clear his vision. He was surprised when it didn't clear up. It was as if his resolution was lower than it was before. He was still strapped down and could barely move. The room appeared empty and so he called out.  
  
"Hello?" His eyes widened. Who the hell was that? That was not his voice! It was strange, robotic. Oh no, he thought. Hell no! Doctor Amari, Desdemona and Deacon stepped out from behind the memory lounger. X7 twisted his head the best he could and noticed another lounger next to him. In that lounger was something he didn't expect to see however. It was him! Or his old body. He heard they couldn't perform one of those famous Raiload memory wipes on him without killing him, so they must have transferred his consciousness into a new Synthetic body. This was clearly no ordinary body though.  
  
"He's coming around" said Doctor Amari. She took a flashlight from her pocket and shined it into his new eyes. Desdemona got close and took a good look at him.  
  
"Is he all there?" She asked.  
  
"Everything checks out on this end." replied Doctor Amari. "He should be fully uploaded." X7 blinked and tried to speak. It was in that robotic voice as before.  
  
"What have you done to me?" He asked. Desdemona was the first to speak up.  
  
"We couldn't give you a standard memory wipe with your old body, it was too damaged. So we gave you a new one."  
  
"If I have a new body, why didn't you wipe my memory after the upload then?"  
  
"I thought about it, but then I thought this would be more fitting." Desdemona held up a mirror and X7 got a good look at his new face. His face was pale and lifeless like a mannequin and his eyes were a dull white with a glowing yellow ring for an iris. It was as he feared.  
  
"You uploaded me into a Gen II Synth! How could you do this to me?!" He shouted in that robotic artificial voice. He hated that voice; loathed it.  
  
"If it was up to me," Desdemona continued. "I would have let you die and I wouldn't have lost sleep over the death of one more Courser. This however, seemed like a fair compromise." She leaned in closer to his face. "Now you live, but you'll no longer be able to blend in with the rest of humanity. People will know what you are. They'll fear you, probably even try to kill you. Now you'll forever know the fear your fellow Synths felt. This body is also less advanced or as durable, which should take the bite out of your Courser abilities." She got closer. "I call that poetic justice."  
  
X7 felt rage. Real rage. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. He pulled from his straps and broke free before Desdemona could react. He grabbed her throat and started choking her with his free hand. Doctor Amari screamed and Deacon pulled out his gun. Another woman in the back of the room pointed a rifle at him as well.  
  
"Let her go Courser!" She shouted, but X7 just ignored her. He looked Desdemona in her bulging eyes as she gasped for air.  
  
"I might not be as advanced as I was before," he said. "But I can still squeeze the life out of you!" Deacon stepped forward, pistol still aimed at X7.  
  
"Look pal, I stood up for you. I'd suggest you let her go right now before I have to end you." X7 glanced over at him.  
  
"Then end it. I'd rather be dead than live like this."  
  
"Are you sure about that?" Deacon asked. X7 was surprised when he thought about the question. He could have given up and died a long time ago. Instead he chose to seek out an enemy and ask for help. Was he really that desperate? Maybe he didn't want to die after all? He released Desdemona who fell backwards gasping for air. Deacon caught her and Doctor Amari went to her aid. The other woman with the rifle, who X7 now recognized as a Synth known as G7-81 aka Glory, stepped closer. She aimed the rifle straight at X7's head.  
  
"Should I end him?" She asked. This time Deacon remained quiet. Desdemona stood up coughing and managed a single word.  
  
"No." That's when Glory hit him with the butt of her rifle and all went black.  
  
\---  
  
As usual he woke up sometime later, and as usual he had no idea how much time had gone by. He stood up and examined his surroundings. He was outside, alone and on the edge of town. On the ground was a dufflebag, some clothes and a few basic supplies in a small backpack. He dressed in the clothes and picked up a note on the backpack. He read it.  
  
"Dear Asshole, I wanted to kill you but Dez decided to spare your life. She believes there is a small chance  you'll learn your lesson or some shit like that. Personally I hope you just die, but that's me. If we see you anywhere near Boston again, we'll kill you. Enjoy your new life." - Glory  
  
X7 crumpled the letter and tossed it aside. He finished gearing up and took a look at what was up ahead. He had no idea where he was going, or what he was going to find, but he strangely felt determined. He's alive, barely in this primitive shell of a body, but he was alive nonetheless. He pulled a hood over his head concealing his appearance and started walking into the wilderness away from Boston. He might not know what's out there, but he was sure of one thing now. He's alive, and he intends to stay that way.


End file.
